Joe Biden coughed and spluttered as he began his first press conference as President of the United States. Biden suffered a frog in his throat as Thursday’s briefing on coronavirus began, which saw him warn the US death toll would hit 500,000 in February.

Biden – who has had both doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine – coughed twice, and cleared his throat multiple times as he thanked servicemen and women for guarding his inauguration on Wednesday.

He said ‘Excuse me,’ while trying regain his composure, and managed to do shortly afterwards, before unveiling his ambitious Covid battle plan.

The 78 year-old is the oldest president ever to take office in the United States. He issued a grim warning on Covid as he unveiled his plan to tackle it, warning the US would hit 500,000 Covid deaths in Febuary.

President Biden said: ‘Let me be very clear. Things are going to get worse before they get better. The death toll will likely top 500,000 next month.

‘We didn’t get into this mess overnight. It’s going to take months to turn around. We will get through this – help is on the way.’

He repeated his vow to inject 100million doses of coronavirus vaccine in the first 100 days of his administration, saying ‘We will move heaven and Earth,’ to achieve the bold ambition.

Biden also called on Americans to wear masks, calling it a ‘patriotic act’, and claiming fastidious mask wearing between January and April would save more than 50,000 lives.

The US has recorded more than 24million Covid infections, with over 406,000 dying as a result.

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